Huntsmen Aren't Paid to Die
by GunnyBadger
Summary: Alright everyone! This is my second fanfic ever and is an AU crossover between RWBY and Red vs Blue. The story takes place in the RWBY universe where all Huntsmen/Huntresses are Spartans that make up a mercenary force that hunts Grimm throughout the world. Just as my other work, this story will feature some mature content. That being said, please be aware of language and violence.
1. Prologue

**Hello all! So this is my second story. This is a crossover AU fanfic that features characters from both RWBY and Red vs Blue. This first part is a short prologue to the story itself. I hope you all enjoy it and as usual feel free to write a review and like/share/follow it.**

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 **Huntsmen Aren't Paid to Die**

 **Prologue**

Ruby leaned against the boulder behind her as she allowed one leg to hang off of the cliff situated one hundred and fifty feet above the forest floor below. She calmly moved her SRSS99-S5 AM to keep its sights on the target she had been tracking for the past week. It was a massive Ursa Major with scars covering its entire body. She had been contacted two weeks prior by a poor border town near the Emerald Forest to hunt the large Grimm when an entire family was killed by it. She was informed that the town had sent five of their best hunters to track down the beast but none came back. She slowly tracked the large Ursa's movements through the trees as she thought about how she could convince the town to only pay her half of the normal wages for a Huntress to kill such a dangerous creature. Ruby wasn't one for taking advantage of those in need, even if it was technically her job to do so to an extent.

"Crescent Rose?" Ruby said patiently as she kept her rifle's sights on her target.

"Yes ma'am?" Came the cheerful but professional voice of Ruby's AI unit that was installed in her helmet.

"Pull up trajectory simulation alpha. Also, I need a suggestion on how to talk to the mayor about our pay when we get back to town." Ruby commanded as she continued to think about the small town.

"Roger that, I will make a note of it for when we have a confirmed tag on the bounty." Crescent Rose replied as a series of stats and projected simulations popped up in Ruby's visor.

Ruby's popularity as a Huntress had developed partly because her team were well known to be one of the only teams from The Huntsmen Corps to reduce their prices or to allow bartering when it came to being hired for jobs. Team RWBY refused to charge full price, no matter how big the job, when it came to dealing with border towns or clients in desperate need. They were one of only a handful of teams with such a policy and thus had earned a small fortune from the amount of jobs they had been called into over the past five years since they had graduated from Beacon Academy's Huntsman School. This demand sometimes called for Team RWBY to split up in order to do several jobs at once with each team member taking a percentage of the payment from the bounties.

"Alright Crescent Rose, that looks fine to me. You ready to bring the pain?" She asked with excitement as her trigger finger began to tremble with anticipation.

"Excellent choice ma'am. I'm ready when you are." The AI responded as it finished calculating Ruby's chances of making a kill shot from her location.

Ruby grinned happily as she eased her heartbeat and began her breathing technique. She slowly inhaled a deep breath and then released it. She repeated this process twice more, then with the last exhale she held her breath halfway through and gently squeezed the trigger of her rifle. The recoil of the large sniper rifle smacked the armored plating in her shoulder with a strong thud as the round exited the rifle's barrel. A small image in her visor quickly tracked the flight path of the round before it slammed into the Ursa Major's spine just between its shoulder blades. The large Grimm gave out a loud groan as its spine shattered and the bullet, along with bone fragments, tore downward into the its chest cavity.

"Good hit! Target's spine has been severed along with massive amounts of internal damage to both the lungs and heart. Target has been successfully eliminated." Came the report from Crescent Rose within a second of the bullet hitting the large Grimm.

Ruby quickly jumped to her feet and slung her rifle onto her back as the report came from Crescent Rose. She looked down the face of the cliff at the ground below her, her hooded cape fluttering in the wind. She then calmly walked off of the edge, falling straight down. She gracefully landed, her armor and shielding successfully absorbing the impact of the landing. Ruby then quickly gained her position and activated her armor's special function before sprinting to the corpse of the Ursa Major.

Ruby's Spartan armor was a customized Deadeye class set with integrated speed enhancers built in from her AI's programming. Ruby would be able to outrun any other Spartan, Huntsman or Atlesian, without even breaking a sweat. Her armor was painted black with red stripes and had a small hooded cape attached to its shoulders. Because of her deadly sniping skills and hooded appearance, Ruby had gained the nickname "Grimm Reaper" over the years of her service as a Huntress.

"Crescent Rose, archive the footage of the kill and then start recording here for tagging." Ruby commanded as she pulled out a large combat knife from its sheath that was attached to her chest's armor.

Ruby kneeled next to the beast's lifeless body, black steam still slowly rising off of its corpse. She made sure to capture enough visual proof of the Ursa Major being that of the one her contract detailed before she proceeded to tag her kill. She quickly worked on cutting the Grimm's head off before carving a large rose into its forehead. This made sure she had not just video proof, but physical proof of her completing her contract. This also allowed her to claim her kill just in case other Huntsmen or Huntresses were in the area and wanted to try and steal her contract. She then placed the Grimm's head into a mesh bag and attached it to her waist before cleaning her knife off on the corpse's fur. She then stood and quickly ran back towards town with her prize.

As Ruby reached the edge of town she noticed that there was a Bullhead VTOL resting in the center of town with a figure standing next to it. Ruby calmly walked into town as she watched the figure begin to walk towards her. She entered the town hall and discussed payment with the mayor, who insisted that Ruby take full payment for the contract. After a few minutes she finally talked him down and told him that it was the least that she could do. As she began walking towards the front of the building, Crescent Rose chimed in.

"You know she'll be waiting outside, right?" Crescent Rose asked cautiously, her tone changing from earlier.

"Yep. I guess she just couldn't stand the fact I'd been gone for two weeks. Prepare for an earful, partner." Ruby replied as she slid her hood down and took her helmet off, shaking her short hair as it became free of the helmet.

As Ruby exited the town hall she came face to face then none other than Weiss Schnee, another member of Team RWBY. Weiss frowned at her as she looked her partner up and down, taking in the young Huntress before her.

"You know, it'd be nice if you actually answered your scroll once and a while." Weiss scolded her right off the bat.

"Knew that was coming." Ruby muttered before responding to her old friend. "It's kind of hard to keep in touch out here, especially when hunting an Ursa Major that is worth twenty five thousand lien. Also, didn't you have a job with Yang?"

"Yes, and we finished that job a day after you left for this job. I'm not mad about you taking the job or even how you did the job, Ruby. I'm here to tell you we have a big job on the table." Weiss replied as she motioned Ruby to follow her to the Bullhead.

"Big job? How big of a job?" Ruby asked as she quickly followed. It would have to be a very important job for Weiss to come all the way out here to retrieve Ruby.

"Possibly the biggest payday we have ever seen." Weiss replied as they reached the Bullhead and it began to take off.

"That important, huh? Who's the one who called it in?" Ruby yelled over the sound of the VTOL's engines.

"Schnee Dust Company. Winter called me personally and requested I find you then as a team meet her at SDC headquarters as soon as we were able to. She didn't tell me anything besides that. But for Winter to call us for a job, it must be huge." Weiss replied as she sat across from Ruby in the aircraft before hitting a button to close the outside doors as they flew through the air. "You need to get some sleep, you look horrible." She finally said before smiling gently at Ruby.

"Yes ma'am!" Ruby playfully replied. "Please wake me when we get close to home. I can only guess what kind of mood this has Yang in, so I'm going to need some rest." She said as she got comfortable in her seat and slowly closed her eyes and quickly drifted off into a light sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! So here we go with the first full chapter of Huntsmen Aren't Paid to Die! This chapter is a little short because of it setting up a larger series of chapters for the first part of the story. I hope you all enjoy it, and if you want to then please feel free to review, favorite, or follow this or any of my works. Happy reading!**

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 **I**

Yang's muscles were on fire as she pulled herself up on her pull-up bar that she had built into her ceiling inside her room. She had lost count of how many reps she had done as she focused on keeping her lower body locked tightly as she had two hundred pounds of weights strapped to her body. Sweat dripped from her chin and landed on her tightly fitting sports bra as she thought about the call that Weiss had received days before. Weiss' sister, Winter, had a special request for the entire team and according to Weiss that meant that there was potential to this being their biggest and most important job yet. After a few more reps she held herself up with one arm and undid the straps that held the weights in place, allowing them to smash into the floor below her, cracking the floor where they landed. Blake came around the corner as she did this and glanced up at Yang with a smile.

"You know Weiss is going to be pissed that you broke her floor again, right? I don't think I can keep her from harming you this time." Blake said with a chuckle as Yang dropped down in front of her, sweat still rolling off of her skin.

Yang tied her long blonde hair up into a ponytail before giving Blake a mischievous grin before grabbing her by the waist and pulling Blake close to her. The two young Huntresses had been dating since their time at Beacon, much to the disappointment of every man to meet them. Blake blushed deep red as her girlfriend kissed her forehead and held her close to her sweaty body.

"You think I can't take little ole Ice Queen?" Yang whispered as she squeezed Blake tightly.

"It's not that I don't think you can't, it's I know you'd toy with her and get her even more angry. Ugh, Yang you're sweaty! Let go!" Blake whined as she tried to escape Yang's strong grip by pushing at her.

"Oh, if my being sweaty isn't working for you then how about I make you a little sweaty also?" Yang replied with a laugh as Blake pushed at her to let go.

Blake struggling in Yang's arms only seemed to edge the Huntress on more as she held her tighter and squeezed her buttocks with one hand before kissing her lips. Yang's kiss seemed to calm Blake down momentarily but she quickly snapped out of it and continued to struggle against her insanely strong lover.

"Why do you always get horny when you work out? I swear, I don't even know why I even go near you when you're in these moods." Blake said playfully before blushing even deeper red. "Besides, we can't do anything right now. Weiss called and said that she has Ruby and that they are on the way here. Now unless you want them walking in on us again, I suggest we save this moment for later. Maybe later tonight when the kids are asleep." She continued, finally wiggling free of Yang's grasp.

"You mean after you read a chapter of your secret books? Hmm, I'm game for that." Yang said with a smile before continuing. "So Weiss finally found Ruby? About damn time. I thought the girl was going to have a stroke if she couldn't get ahold of her. Any word on how her mission went?" She asked before walking to her dresser to take out a change of clothes and walked towards her bathroom to take a shower.

"Seems like she completed her bounty. Apparently Ruby slept during the entire Bullhead ride back into the city. They are returning here for Ruby to take a, as Weiss put it, greatly needed shower. I suppose that Weiss wants to put out all the stops for our meeting with her sister." Blake responded as she followed Yang to the bathroom.

"I mean can you blame her? Winter is now the head of the Schnee Dust Company. We're talking about the largest dust provider in the world. It's not uncommon for these big companies to hire Huntsmen for protection details but to specifically hire us says something big is in the works." Yang said as she stripped naked and walked into her shower while Blake sat on top of the counter to continue their conversation.

"Good point. What do you think the mission will be? Surely it's not just a security detail job. Do you think it's going to be a Grimm hunt?" Blake questioned Yang as she pulled up some files on the SDC and Winter on her scroll.

"Your guess is as good as mine, babe." Yang called out from inside the shower as she gently washed her hair. "If Winter is anything like Weiss though, that means we have a lot of snide remarks to stomach through at the meeting." She laughed to herself as she thought about the idea of someone being like Weiss.

"Well, in the meantime go ahead and get cleaned up. Weiss and Ruby will be here shortly and I'm sure Weiss will want to drill us for how we should act before traveling to Atlas for the meeting." Blake replied as she slid from the counter and began to walk out of the bathroom. "Oh, and don't forget to hide the cracks in the floor again. Who knows what Weiss will do to you when she sees that you broke her floor again." Blake said playfully as she closed the door behind her.

"Cracks in her floor? Wait…oh fuck me." Yang said as she realized she forgot about breaking the floor again with her weights. She punched the wall of the shower in frustration, cracking the tile in it as well. "Oh come on! Damnit Weiss, why did you have to build a house with such fragile floors and walls?" She groaned as she looked at the crack in the shower wall.


	3. Chapter 2

**II**

Team RWBY talked softly amongst themselves as they sat in first class aboard an airship heading for Atlas to meet with Winter at the SDC world headquarters. The four young women sat in their Huntsmen Corps uniforms. The uniforms were a light brownish red blouse with black knee length skirts. The uniforms were bare except for their last names over their right breast, the words _Vale Huntsman Corps_ over the left, and Vale's emblem on their shoulders Weiss was in the middle of chastising Yang for breaking her floor again as the pilot announced they would be landing soon.

"Oh thank you god." Yang said under her breath as Weiss held back her barrage of complaints just long enough for the pilot to speak.

"I mean really did you think moving my priceless rug into your room to hide a crack would go unnoticed?" Weiss finally continued, making Yang jump in her seat.

"I thought you'd be happy that I was trying to make my room more…classy?" Yang said with a smile which seemed to only make the young woman even angrier.

"Classy? I maybe would have believed that if you hadn't taken the rug out of my room to do it. Next time just use the mats I bought you or I swear I'll lock you in the basement." Weiss replied before crossing her arms.

"The basement? Oh yes, please put me in there your majesty. I've been a bad girl and need to be locked away." Yang teased Weiss as she ran a hand up her thigh, much to the embarrassment of Weiss.

"H-hey! That's not okay. Shouldn't you be doing that to Blake? Blake, your girlfriend is molesting me!" Weiss complained with a deep red blush before turning to Blake who was grinning slyly.

"Oh, I don't mind. Maybe I can watch while you punish Yang in the basement. She really has been naughty." Blake said with her ears perked up playfully.

Weiss slapped at Yang's hand before jumping from her seat and scurrying over to the safety of the seat next to Ruby who was giggling at the antics of Blake and Yang. Blake laughed at Weiss' reaction before taking Weiss' empty seat next to her girlfriend and leaned against her shoulder, placing her head on it.

"You know we shouldn't tease her like that, right?" Blake said to Yang as she looked over to the flustered woman who hid behind Ruby across the aisle.

"Well if she wasn't such a useless lesbian then maybe we wouldn't have to. Remember when we walked in on Ruby and hers first kiss at Beacon? She didn't speak to us for a week." Yang replied with a grin before playfully flicking one of Blake's cat ears. "Besides, if it wasn't for our teasing then Ruby would never get any actual time with her girlfriend in public. You know how Weiss is about PDA." Yang continued as she put her arm around Blake.

"Yeah. But then again Ruby is…Ruby. Sometimes I don't even think she notices when Weiss is trying to be romantic. By the way, do you think Weiss is going to ask her soon?" Blake asked as she looked up at Yang.

"Who knows? Ruby is always so busy with work and Weiss is…Weiss. I did see Weiss in a jewelry shop a few weeks ago. But then again sometimes I want to propose for them just to get it over with." Yang said as she continued to look towards her sister.

"I'm sure she'll ask when the time is right." Blake said with a smile before the pilot came back over the intercom and announcing they would be landing shortly.

A few minutes later Team RWBY exited the craft and waited for their equipment in the lobby. While they were waiting several Atlas soldiers started to show interest in the young women. Three of them approached Yang and confidently started to flirt with her.

"Hey beautiful, what are you doing in Atlas?" A young solider said to Yang as he approached her.

"Oh you know, just here on a business trip." Yang replied with a sigh.

"Oh? Well how about we catch a drink or two? I'm sure you could use some pleasure on your trip." He responded.

"Hmmm. It's tempting but I got as much pleasure as I can handle. Besides, I don't think you could afford enough drinks with me." Yang said as she put her arm around Blake's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

The solider grew frustrated at Yang's response and glared at her.

"Oh because your lady is here? She can share a drink also. I'm sure I can afford your tastes." He replied with confidence.

"Look buddy. I assure you. You can't afford the amount of alcohol it would take me to even humor you. Besides, I'm sure my paycheck makes yours look like minimum wage. Now run along." Yang said with a frown.

"What did you say, bitch?" The solider stepped towards Yang before one of the other men grabbed his arm.

"Hey, let up. They're Huntresses. Look at their name tags. That's _the_ Yang Xiao Long. She's The Golden Dragon, man. You can't talk to her that way." The solider said with a worried tone as he pulled his friend back. "I'm sorry for how he acted ma'am. He doesn't know how to take denial." He said to Yang.

The mouthy solider hesitated before taking a step back from Yang and shaking his head and turning away.

"Fucking Huntsmen. You give a merc a suit of Spartan armor and they become superstars. Forget it." He said as he walked away, leaving the apologetic solider behind. As he stood there Team RWBY's equipment cases arrived.

"Hey, it's okay. Your friend just needs to learn how to take a hint." Yang replied to the apologetic man as she picked up her large armor case with one arm.

Team RWBY made their way out of the station before finding a driver sent by the SDC to pick them up. The young male dog faunus stood sharply in his suit and hat before greeting the team with a smile and a nod. He called for a box truck to take their gear while the four young women climbed into an impressive looking limo. Inside the four of them chatted as the driver took them through the city towards the SDC headquarters. As they came closer to the large building the women all looked at it in awe of its beauty.

"Oh man, Weiss. Why didn't you ever tell us SDC's headquarters was this nice looking?" Yang said as she looked with wide eyes.

"Honestly it's been so many years since I've been here that I forgot what it looked like." Weiss replied silently as she sat back into her seat and frowned.

As the limo and box truck pulled up to the front of the building, three burly men approached the doors to the vehicle and opened them for the Huntresses. The four of them quickly exited the limo as one of the men led them inside while the other two helped move their gear from the truck. Inside they were escorted to an elevator and the man ushered them inside before leaning in and pressing a button and turned away as the elevator closed with the team inside it. They rode up the elevator shaft in silence until Weiss finally cleared her throat.

"Alright, when we get into the meeting there is a few things we should remember. Firstly, Winter is my sister so she most likely will address me more than anyone. Secondly, she will try to cheat us. She has a death grip on this company's money so don't expect her to offer decent pay at first. Thirdly, she personally approached me for this job so that means it's most likely very top secret. Don't be surprised if nobody even knows we are coming. And lastly, don't let her get to you. Let me do most of the talking." Weiss said as she looked at her teammates who nodded in agreement.

"If nobody knows we are here then that explains the rushed entrance while escorted by that big guy." Blake said as she reflected on the attitude of the man who led them to the elevator.

"Exactly. Winter may have decided to hire us on her own without informing the rest of the leaders of the SDC. If that is the case then we need to be careful. I can only guess what she could be getting us into." Weiss replied as she watched the numbers of the floors rise quickly before coming to a stop at the top floor.

The elevator doors opened and the four Huntresses exited before Weiss led them down a hallway towards two large golden doors with a receptionist desk next to it. Weiss and the rest of the team stopped at the desk and looked down at the young woman sitting at the desk who was on her scroll. Weiss cleared her throat to get her attention but she just continued to look at the scroll. Weiss rolled her eyes and nodded at Yang who gave her an evil grin before slamming her fist on the desk, causing the woman to jump.

"Hey! Don't you have any manners? Don't you know who you're ignoring?" Yang said loudly as she leaned down over the desk and pushed the frighten girl's scroll out of her hand.

The scared woman looked at Weiss and quickly stood up and stammered as the tall blonde Huntress towered over her.

"Miss Schnee! I…didn't recognize you. I'm so sorry! It's just so dead up here and Winter has been inside for some time talking to…" She started before Weiss held up a hand to silence her.

"It's fine. Can you let my sister know we are here?" Weiss questioned the young woman standing before her who just nodded after hesitating a few moments.

The young receptionist nervously pushed the intercom button and waited a few moments before clearing her throat and leaning down towards the speaker.

"Uh…ma'am? Your sister is here with some other Huntresses." The woman said softly.

"Weiss? Good, good. Send them in and hold all calls until they leave." Came the voice of Weiss' older sister, Winter.

"Yes ma'am." The young woman said before letting go of the button and pressing a separate one to unlock the door to Winter's office. "Go ahead in." She said, pointing towards the door before sitting back down.

The four Huntresses nodded at the woman before entering the large office. Blake shut the door behind them and the four young women walked towards Winter's desk.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello all!** **I'm so sorry that it has been so long since I posted anything. I've been extremely busy with work and with finals coming up I've been pressed on time to finish some major assignments. With the semester coming to an end I should have a lot more time on my hands in the next few weeks. I hope you all forgive me and enjoy this chapter!**

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 **III**

The four young Huntresses approached Winter's desk before stopping a few feet short of it, snapped to attention, and all saluted in unison. The tall young woman rose from her desk and waved for them to stand at ease. Winter came out from behind the desk and stood in front of the team of Huntresses before leaning against her desk and smiling.

"Team RWBY. I see the four of you have stayed healthy. How goes things, Ruby? Are you taking care of my little sister?" Winter said as she turned her attention to the team's youngest member and leader.

Ruby blushed at the question before stammering out a response. Her words struggled to leave her mouth as she tried to find a way to explain her relationship with Weiss to one of the most powerful women in all of Remnant.

"I…I've been trying my b-best, ma'am. Your sister is a v-very hard working Huntress and is very valuable to my team and I." Ruby said before staring down at the floor. Winter quickly stepped forward and tilted Ruby's chin up with a gloved hand.

"I didn't say that for you to get discouraged, young lady. Your reputation precedes you, Captain Rose." Winter said with a smug smile before continuing. "I know how capable my sister is. I asked you if you were taking care of her. Now, are you taking care of my sister? Is she being kept in line? Is she staying out of trouble?" She finished with a serious twinkle in her eyes.

Ruby hesitated for a moment before smiling confidently and nodding at her lover's older sister.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm doing all in my power as her commander to ensure your sister's safety and wellbeing." She replied before glancing at Weiss, much to Winter's amusement.

"I'm sure you do as much as you can for her as her commander…among other roles." Winter replied before leaving a blushing Ruby and walking to stand in front of Yang and Blake. "The Golden Dragon and Hellcat. Many a young lady, both faunus and human, look up to the two of you. And as they should." She said as she looked the two women over before smiling at the two of them.

"Thanks, Major Schnee! We do our best." Yang said with a beaming grin before elbowing her girlfriend in the arm.

"Good, keep up the good work. Young girls across Remnant look up to all four of you and claim they will be Huntresses just like you. Even here in Atlas there are many young girls already showing interest in becoming Spartans. There is even talk of Atlas taking part in talks with the AKDC to amend the Huntsman Act to allow Atlesian citizens to join the Huntsmen Corps due to the popularity of you mercenaries. To think that mercenary Spartans are more popular than Atlesian ones." Winter said with a respectful tone as she looked down the line of Huntresses.

The AKDC was the Allied Kingdoms Defense Council, a coalition of the four kingdoms of Remnant. The AKDC had created the Huntsman Act thirty years prior after the Atlesian military developed a new breed of solider to combat the plague that was the Creatures of Grimm. The Atlesian military had developed a program to create super soldiers named Spartans. The program, even thirty years later, was shrouded in secrecy and had many failed attempts before producing the first generation of Spartans. Major Winter Schnee was a member of Atlas' Special Tactics Squadron within their own Spartan Corps. It was unknown even to her younger sister if she was part of a team or if she was a lone operative. In fact, most people outside of the STS had never even seen Major Schnee in her Spartan armor. Currently however, Winter was acting as the head of SDC while Weiss and hers father was recovering from a serious illness.

Shortly after Atlas perfected their Spartan Corps training program, the AKDC created the Huntsman Act in order to ensure that Atlas was not the only nation with the Spartan technology. Huntsmen and Huntresses were created to act as a mercenary force of Spartans that was made up of non-Atlas citizens who wanted to combat Grimm without joining the military itself. The AKDC created three schools across Remnant to help young men and women become Spartans. As is customary with Atlesian Spartans, the Huntsmen and Huntresses are assigned an AI unit depending on their role in their team during their first year of training. Some operatives like Yang had more than one because of their roles.

Winter stepped in front of her younger sister and frowned with a serious look. Weiss lowered her head out of respect before Winter raised the young Huntress' chin with a gloved finger. Winter smiled gently before firmly embracing her sister before motioning for all four of the members of Team RWBY to take a seat at a set of chairs nearby. After the five women took their seats, Winter crossed her legs and took a deep breath.

"Now onto why I've asked you four to meet me." Winter started after a few minutes of silence before using her scroll to turn on a television that hung on the wall near the seats. Images of a SDC mining outpost flashed on the screen. "Forty eight hours ago a SDC mining facility on the northeastern coast of Atlas' continent went dark. We received no distress signal nor any response to our attempted communication with the facility. It is safe to say that everyone at the facility is dead." She finished, her words still hanging in the air.

"Dead?" Questioned Weiss with shock. "How do you know that? What if a storm just knocked out their communications?" She went on.

"Impossible. All SDC mining facilities have several backup generators along with emergency forms of communicating with us." Winter replied with a shake of her head.

"Do you think it was Grimm? Or maybe White Fang?" Blake asked as she looked at the screen.

"That's what I want you four to find out. There is a small unit of SDC security officers that help guard every outpost. The outpost has been functional for a few years now without any Grimm attacks. Also, the location of this outpost is considered classified, to suggest that the White Fang had anything to do with this would mean a major breach in security. That would mean that even more top secret outposts are in danger." Winter responded.

"So what's the details we can know? I'm sure SDC doesn't want a few Huntresses nosing around too much." Ruby before turning to Winter.

Winter sat in silence and clinched a gloved fist before continuing.

"That's the thing. What I'm about to tell you four cannot leave this room. I do not believe I should force you four to sign any sort of legal agreement that states you won't talk about it. Your reputations and professionalism proves that you won't talk about it." Winter replied with a tense tone.

"Go on…" Weiss said with hesitation.

Winter sighed before continuing, stress showing on her normally calm face.

"This facility is more than just a secret mining outpost. It's also a weapon testing base for Atlas. There are many outposts that SDC mining operations are used as a cover for Atlas secret bases. However this one is very special. It focuses on testing for the Special Tactics Squadron of Atlas' Spartan Corps." Winter said before closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"The STS? As in _your_ STS? Well shit, why not just send in some of your buddies to check on things?" Yang said as she leaned forward in her seat, to which Winter slammed her fist down on the arm of her own chair.

"I _did_ send in my 'buddies' to check things out!" Winter snapped. "That's why I've called you four!" She continued before taking a deep breath. "I apologize. To answer your question, I notified STS HQ within hours of the base going dark. They sent in two teams to investigate. Teams Red and Blue. Only issue is…both of the teams failed to perform a radio check within hours of arriving at the base. Usually during a STS operation top ranking officers have a direct video feed to the operatives' helmet cams. However some sort of electrical interference knocked them offline upon entering the airspace surrounding the base." She said as images of two Spartan teams came onto the screen.

"So…why get the Huntsmen Corps involved?" Weiss questioned her older sister after a few seconds of silence.

"Once a STS team goes dark there is a grace period of seventy two hours before sending in what we call a 'cleaning crew' known as Freelancers. These teams are made up of the most brutal of STS operatives. Their mission is to retrieve any and all intel from any fallen Spartans and to destroy everything in the area. This includes anyone they deem 'expendable'. The SDC has very important data that is classified to only be seen by top ranking SDC officials at every outpost. And so with Atlesian Spartans preparing to secure the outpost, the other top members of the SDC want their data secured. I've tried to pull some strings with the STS to delay their operation and even get them to hand over any SDC related data they secure. But alas it seems that my years of service as a Spartan and loyal member of the STS has failed to grant me this one favor. General Ironwood has ordered me to stand down and allow all Atlesian operatives to investigate without any interference from the SDC." Winter replied.

"Do what!?" Weiss exclaimed. "And you're just going to let him seize the work that our family's company does?" She continued.

"Of course not you twit!" Winter snapped at her younger sister as she darted up from her seat.

Winter stood silent for a few seconds before shaking her head with a frown and walking to a nearby window.

"Ruby. You and Team RWBY are to arrive at the outpost ahead of the STS team, secure any and all sensitive SDC data, rescue as many surviving SDC personnel as possible, and exfil out of the area. I cannot promise that if you come across the incoming STS operatives that they will treat you as friendlies. So you and your team have to be long gone by the time they arrive. Do you understand?" Winter said before turning and facing the four women.

Ruby stood from her chair and nodded with a smile before approaching Winter. She reached out her hand to shake Winter's before responding vocally.

"Yes ma'am. We will do our best." She said with a playful grin, to which Winter smiled and took her hand and nodded. "But I have to ask, what about the two teams that were sent in? What if we come across any survivors?" Ruby continued.

"Red and Blue teams both have a reputation of their own. They are some of the most expendable members of the STS and Spartan Corps. If the Freelancers find that they are alive, they will kill them. If you find any surviving members then you are to help them escape as well. I have just enough pull in Atlas that I could get them passports to any of the other three kingdoms. Hell, I might even be able to get them jobs here at the SDC." Winter replied, to which Ruby nodded.

"What about our payment?" Came the voice of Yang as she joined Ruby at the window.

"I'm sure Weiss has discussed that with you three. However, because this is a personal request from me and I am sending my own blood into a very dangerous situation…I'd twenty million for the entire team should be fair. That leaves each of you with four million to do with as you please. In fact, that amount should also cover any expenses as far as supplies go while still providing all of you with a very comfortable paycheck. How does that sound?" Winter said with a grin, to which Yang returned the grin and nodded her head eagerly.

"Twenty million? I was expecting you to try to weasel yourself out of this by paying us a small payment." Weiss interjected as she rose from her seat.

Winter scoffed at Weiss' statement and looked back out the window with a frown.

"Weiss…sister…this mission is of upmost importance to our family's company. I may have already lost fellow STS operatives. I don't want to just send my sister into the wilds without a proper thank you. After all, you're Huntresses. You're better than some Spartans. So you deserve to be awarded for your skills." She said before turning and smiling at her younger sister.

Shortly after, Team RWBY said their goodbyes and began to exit the room. The team and Winter had quickly written up a contract and discussed payment before agreeing to a final draft. Winter quickly stopped them and stood before the four young women once more. She wore a serious look on her face and fear in her eyes.

"You four be careful out there. It is one thing to send my own blood into a mission like this, but to send her and her friends in makes me almost sick to my stomach. You may not be able to stay in contact with me once you get close to the outpost. With that being said, if anything happens to you four…" She said before Ruby held up a hand and gave her a confident grin.

"Don't worry, Winter. Don't you know what they drill into our heads while in training and is basically the Huntsmen Corps' motto?" Ruby said excitedly.

"I…don't know? What is it?" Winter questioned with a confused gaze, to which all four members of Team RWBY smiled at her.

"Huntsmen aren't paid to die. We're paid for results. Many believe we collect payment on completion of a job because of security reasons and so nobody can say we didn't finish a job." Ruby started. "That's only partly true. Huntsmen and Huntresses actually prefer to collect payment for a job after we do it so that if we die in the line of duty then our payment isn't wasted. Plus I guess it would be kind of tempting to just take the money and run sometimes." Ruby said before giggling lightly under her breath.

Winter smiled softly at Ruby before nodding and snapping to attention and saluting the four young women, who returned the salute with a smile on all of their faces. After a few seconds Winter dropped her salute and stood to the side before motioning the team out of her office.

"Then in that case I guess I should let you four get to it. Good luck ladies." Winter said with a respectful but playful tone as Team RWBY left the room.


End file.
